Joe was touting for players to join him in a new game, Western Legends. It received such a positive reaction that there was the chance of maxing out its six-player capacity. But it was decided that this would be foolish for a first play, so Sam, Adam and Andy went to peruse the games shelves while the rest of us got ready for some Wild West shenanigans. While Joe set up Ian and I swapped stories about our experiences on Red Dead Redemptions 1 and 2 and we found out we'd both dressed our avatars in nice clothes and spent hours playing poker. An option which, tantalisingly, was available in this board game.
The game itself is a collection of mini games, giving players the chance to gain Legendary Points for their success in poker or gold mining or killing bandits or spending money at the "theatre". Each player can good or bad and how well you do at this can also get you Legendary Points.
Two game characters clearly feeling the effects of a high wind
There's a strong sense of theme running through it and each player soon finds themselves creating their own western fable. For example, I was a Marshall, but a somewhat ineffective, comical one who spent more time at the poker table than hunting down criminals. Ian impressed us with his strategy of depositing gold at the bank and then immediately trying to rob the bank. Joe started by buying a big hat and then he hung around town until he robbed Ian of gold (he took half, rounded up, just like real bandits did, I expect).
Ian was first to hit the game ending score of 15 legendary points and in the final round (which saw both Ian and I race across Dixons Creek to spend money on enjoying the "cabaret") he saw off a late challenge from Joe.
Ian 26
Joe 19
Andrew 12
It was a fun game and I perhaps should have taken my peace keeping duties more seriously. Joe and Ian, however were much better at being rough tough rootin' tootin' outlaws.
On the other half of the table, the others had chosen Hab & Gut. It required a little ingenuity to decide how to best arrange the racks of cards but once they did, the whole thing went smoothly.
What with a new game in front of me I didn't pay Hab & Gut much attention, but even I couldn't miss Adam's good natured frustration at donating least to charity by a margin of only fifteen marks.
Sam 715
Andy 625
Adam OUT! He didn't even bother counting up how much he had.
After this I think we in America were barely starting, so they started another game, Tag City. Sam's artwork had an air of Keith Haring about it, so I made sure to take a snap.
Adam 66
Sam 51
Andrew 50
Sam said that Adam handed out a bit of a pasting. Perhaps he should have said "a bit of a painting." A ha ha. Oh, my sides.
Next up, they tried Wordsy, the game of word creation with limited means. Andy failed to come up with a word at all in round one but a bad round or two is of no consequence in this game and he was right on Sam's shoulder by the end.
Sam 99
Andy 94
Adam 84
Then, while perusing the rules they discovered that they had got one wrong. So, since it was already there in front of them, they played again.
Sam 121
Andy 115
Adam 100
Finally, we were all together again and a six player finale was in order. For Sale was suggested, but Texas Showdown won the day. So, Ian, Joe and I metaphorically put our stetsons and tassled suede jackets back on as we embarked on our second wild west themed game of the evening.
It was a game of cruel fate, as you might expect, but also of surprising discoveries. Namely, the fact that Joe has two automated card shufflers, one for the home and one for the studio. Astonishing. And well done to Ian for not opening his final beer so late in the day.
As for the game, Adam fell into an early slump, only to be replaced by Ian who picked up four then three tricks in consecutive rounds. Then, right at the end Joe picked up five tricks to propel himself into last.
As for the race for first, it was always Andy. There was one round (the penultimate one) when he shared the lead with Sam but then he went clear while Sam picked up a solitary trick allowing Andy to seal the win.
Andy 5
Sam 6
Andrew 8
Adam 9
Ian 10
Joe 12
And so we ended. And at a relatively sensible time (ie, not nearly midnight) too. Thanks to all. It was special.
I'll be back in the saddle next week!
ReplyDeleteProbably worth clarifying that we played several rules wrong on our first game of Wordsy. Not sure who was responsible for that :-p Fortunately Andy understands rules and the second game was legit.
ReplyDeleteNice to play Hab & Gut again and all the games our side of the table were fun. I'm intrigued by Western Legends though. Seemed like a lot of poker going on!
Wahey! Saddle.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Western Legends a lot. Not a thinky strategy-fest, quite opportunistic and some luck of the draw involved (in both poker and duels). And we played a pared down intro game, without cattle wrangling/rustling, and without player goals.
Having played and witnessed the wanted players making far more headway than the marshal, I looked up a relevant post on the BGG forums. It's definitely important to keep wanted players in check, as they get points at the end of each turn - the marshal can do that but all players can also send the sheriff after wanted players, which seems to be an important thing which maybe we under-utilised. It's definitely a game that encourages the players to duke it out amongst themselves, naturally enough. Looking forward to another play soon.
Texas Showdown was an excellently thematic follow-up, despite my shocking showing. A great evening, and a great start to 2019, thanks all.